Prasa initiates probe into R18bn contracts after Hawks raid

The Hawks swooped on Prasa’s headquarters in Braamfontein on Wednesday afternoon, seizing laptops, mobile phones and a trove of documents of the rail agency’s top executives and other employees.

This was after the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) initiated independent forensic investigations into allegations of corruption in connection with two R18 billion contracts for train signalling equipment.

Forensic investigation

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mabombo said the operation was conducted as part of an “ongoing investigation”.

Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) presented a search warrant at its Braamfontein offices.

“Prasa initiated an independent forensic investigation after receiving a submission from a whistleblower. Documents and information related to this matter were secured through this proactive forensic investigation,” Makanda said.

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‘Nothing to hide’

Makanda said the information was “readily available for sharing with the law enforcement authorities”.

“The agency has nothing to hide and stands ready to provide complete cooperation to law enforcement authorities. The agency will continue to implement robust governance measures and maintain the highest standards of accountability while fully supporting all legitimate investigative processes.”

Fraud

Senior officials at Prasa allowed two tenders amounting to almost R18 billion, to be awarded to a company, seemingly without the basic bid criteria being met, according to GroundUp.

A report compiled by a whistleblower alleges Prasa had also fraudulently made advance payments to the company – Maziya General Services – amounting to almost R2.7 billion through five transfers during December 2023 and December 2024.

Tenders

The contracts are for a “global system for mobile communications-railway redundancy network” in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape (Bid 112), and a “Prasa train control system” in KwaZulu-Natal (Bid 120).

The tenders were published in November 2021 and October 2022 respectively.

According to the report, the respective tender amounts awarded were R6.3 billion and R11.1 billion.

Transparency

The chair of the select committee on public infrastructure and Minister in the Presidency, Rikus Badenhorst, said the allegations against the Prasa executives were concerning.

“This highlights a need for transparency and accountability in Prasa. The committee will monitor the developments at Prasa as it is important for the investigation to come to expose the alleged corruption in the entity.”

Badenhorst called on the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy, to report back to the committee once investigations into the matter were complete, as the outcome was crucial to resolving some of the key obstacles hindering Prasa’s progress on signalling.

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